After scoring two goals against Uzbekistan on Tuesday, June 23, Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo was not in the mood to talk about Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo became the first player to score in six World Cups with his first-half goal in Houston, and added another late in the first half as Portugal won 5-0.
It was an emphatic response to the 41-year-old’s critics, many of whom said he should not have started after his below-average performance in Portugal’s opening game against the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ronaldo is the latest in a long line of sporting icons to score twice at the World Cup, including Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane.
Messi has already scored a hat-trick and two goals, while Mbappe and Haaland have each scored twice in their first two games.
After Tuesday’s match, reporters in the mixed zone started asking Ronaldo questions about Messi, but the Portuguese star quickly cut them off before enough questions could be heard.
“Yesterday, Lionel Messi scored two goals,” a reporter asked in Spanish, and Ronaldo suddenly turned away and asked another question.
“Go ahead,” Ronaldo said to the next reporter.
Ronaldo and Messi are widely considered to be two of the best players of their generation and have been closely linked throughout their careers. Messi has won the Ballon d’Or eight times, while Ronaldo has won it five times.
This duo has already made history in this tournament. Ronaldo and Messi became the first two players to appear in six World Cups. Ronaldo became the first player to score in six World Cups, while Messi became the highest scorer in World Cup history with 18 goals.
